It might seem to be Nissan is standing nonetheless in the mean time because it fights for its survival, however that doesn’t imply it isn’t arduous at work growing new fashions behind the scenes. Living proof – the corporate remains to be engaged on a new Navara pick-up truck, now set to be primarily based on the third-generation Mitsubishi Triton as a part of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance.
Thoughts you, the truck is barely anticipated to reach throughout the subsequent two years, so the corporate remains to be being tardy in bringing it to market (the Triton was revealed again in 2023). But it surely must be price it, as a result of in keeping with Australian portal Drive, the Navara will likely be a really totally different beast from the Triton, regardless of the shared underpinnings.
Nissan Oceania managing director Andrew Humberstone advised the publication that the following mannequin is not going to merely be a rebadge of its twin. “We’re ensuring that it’s very a lot a Nissan. So we’ll be making a lot of adjustments to make it possible for that’s the case,” he mentioned.
He added that somewhat than reskinning the Triton and calling it a day, Nissan believes including its personal applied sciences will show helpful to the truck.
“I believe if we take a look at our expertise portfolio, there’s loads that they will profit from,” he mentioned. “So when it comes to technological development, when it comes to the utility area, completely I believe we’ve bought one thing we’d wish to convey into the market. However once more, we’re going to make a variety of adjustments to the product to verify it’s in keeping with Nissan’s expectations,” he mentioned.
Nissan executives have beforehand indicated that the brand new Navara will resolve a few of the points of the present mannequin, launched again in 2014 because the NP300 Navara. Particularly, it was the usage of rear coils as an alternative of leaf springs, enhancing journey consolation however inflicting the truck to sag a lot underneath load that Nissan apparently needed to challenge fixes twice within the span of three years.
“Should you return to the launch of the [current] Navara, there have been a variety of sagging questions,” mentioned Nissan Africa, Center East, India, Europe and Oceania (AMIEO) chief planning officer François Bailly. “You understand, you’ll load the automotive, [and there would be a noticeable difference between] the entrance and the rear. Clearly, we is not going to repeat this error.”
Notably, the Triton is barely accessible with leaf springs on the rear, and it’s anticipated that the Navara will observe go well with, whereas additionally providing the same old one-tonne payload and three,500 kg towing capability. Bailly mentioned the truck “must be credible in market, no debate,” including that if it couldn’t meet these benchmarks, “properly, it wouldn’t be a pick-up truck, would it not?”
Technical particulars have but to be revealed, however whereas Nissan has beforehand hinted at mechanical variations amongst twinned fashions developed underneath the alliance, the Navara is anticipated to utilise the Triton’s Hyperpower 4N16 2.4 litre four-cylinder turbodiesel.
This produces as much as 204 PS and 470 Nm of torque – will increase of 14 PS and 20 Nm over the earlier mannequin – all despatched via a six-speed computerized gearbox. It’s unclear if Mitsubishi’s Simple Choose four-wheel-drive system will likely be used right here, however what is anticipated is a plug-in hybrid system in some unspecified time in the future within the truck’s lifecycle – doubtless additionally from Mitsubishi.
Nissan has beforehand introduced that the brand new Navara could be revealed globally by the top of the Japanese fiscal yr 2026, which concludes March 31, 2027. That’s a lengthy time away, but it surely’s understood that we gained’t have to attend that lengthy, with the truck set to reach in Australia within the subsequent 18 months.
GALLERY: 2024 Mitsubishi Triton in Malaysia
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